Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)

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General		Extras
Category	Classical	Main Menu Audio & Animation-Insert screen w live action plus vintage projector audio.
Rating
Year Of Production	1945
Running Time	122:37
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Gabriel Pascal
Studio Distributor	Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Claude Rains Vivien Leigh Stewart Granger Flora Robson Cecil Parker Basil Sydney
Case	6 Clip and Ring
RPI	$14.95	Music	Georges Auric

     Beyond Home Entertainment have recently given us the release of a number of movies under the banner Classic Matinee Triple Bill. Each case contains three separate discs, with three separate titles featuring the same leading actor. The first of these sets I have seen is Classic Stewart Granger, which contains that actor's Love Story (1944), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and Blanche Fury (1948).

     Although the slick for this release claims that these films are all "gems from the (J. Arthur) Rank catalogue", Love Story - renamed A Lady Surrenders in the U.S.- was actually produced by Gainsborough Pictures, with the famous logo of the Gainsborough Lady still elegantly intact at the beginning of this release. J. Arthur Rank was to purchase the entire Gainsborough organization during the production of Caesar and Cleopatra the following year, including the services of Gainsborough's contract stars. The George Bernard Shaw play was a major undertaking for the burgeoning but still fledgling Rank organization. Stewart Granger writes in his autobiography: "The Hungarian director, Gabriel Pascal, who had conned G.B.S. into giving him the film rights of all his plays, had a great critical success with the film of Pygmalion, starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. Pascal persuaded Rank that he should make a blockbuster film and that he, Pascal, had the very subject : Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. He promised that it would be the most star-studded, expensive, prestigious film made in the history of the British cinema. Unfortunately Rank fell for it. Claude Rains was cast as Caesar and Vivien Leigh ... was to play Cleopatra. I was to play Apollodorus, a character that completely confused me as I think Shaw meant him to be queer, which was not exactly my scene."

     Granger may have been confused by his role, but he makes a welcome entrance to the film fifty-eight minutes in, oiled, tan-sprayed, in a nipple revealing off the shoulder toga, striding around the set or lounging on cushions, giving a freshness and exuberance to every line. If all performances were at this energy level Pascal would have delivered a much more enjoyable offering. The Roman ruler, "a funny old gentleman ... old and rather wrinkly" meets Cleopatra, "a divine child" and Bernard Shaw created a work of wit and intrigue. This film version delivers loads of intrigue, but very little wit. Claude Rains miraculously lifts all of his scenes, with just the right charm and wit. There is a real spontaneity to his performance and I am sure that there is even one instance where he cuts off Basil Sydney's line, stops then starts again (53:56). Rains does get some assistance from a few in the cast. Amongst these are Flora Robson as Cleopatra's "chief nurse" Ftatateeta, Basil Sydney, Ernest Thesiger and the wonderful Cecil Parker as a slightly daffy Britannus. Others are extremely stodgy, including Francis L. Sullivan, Stanley Holloway and Leo Genn. Other faces you may recognize include those of Ronald Shiner, John Laurie, Felix Aylmer, Valentine Dyall, Jean Simmons playing a harp and, in one court scene, John Gregson (28:00). It says little for the dramatic proceedings that one turns to spotting known faces amongst the extras on screen!

     Cleopatra, herself is a great disappointment. Miss Leigh fell pregnant to Laurence Olivier at the beginning of shooting and Pascal agreed to speed up production to accommodate his pregnant star. However the physical demands of one scene, six weeks into shooting, with multiple takes of Leigh whipping a slave, ended with a fall and a miscarriage, causing a rift and tension between star and her director. In her biography of Vivien Leigh, Anne Edwards writes : "after a few days of recuperation, Vivien went back to complete the film. She played the banqueting scene where Cleopatra orders the murder of Pothinus with a new maturity, and in the close-ups Pascal was taken back (sic) by the unexpected passion in her face.... To the unobservant she remained a dream, an apparition from the past. But Pascal had seen the truth on the screen and it had severely shocked him. There was something frightening in her eyes, something that made one fear for herself more than for oneself."

     I felt compelled to go into some depth about Vivien Leigh's condition during the making of this film. She will always be one of the greatest beauties the world has produced, on or off the screen. Scarlett O'Hara will always be an iconic performance in a monumental film ; and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire is the greatest female performance ever captured by the camera. Sadly, in Caesar and Cleopatra the actress delivers a one dimensional performance, alternating between the childlike teenaged kitten and the maturing scheming venomous queen, with no crossover from one to the other. The first lengthy scene between Leigh and Rains is a delight, but this levity becomes lost in the stodginess of later scenes. The actress's previous film had been Lady Hamilton four years earlier, so this Pascal film was much anticipated. Sadly she would not be on the screen again until Anna Karenina in 1948, and after that not until Blanche was unleashed in 1951. After Streetcar there would be only three more films for Vivien Leigh's fans before her death at the age of fifty-three. Thankfully Australia did see her in her old Vic Tour of 1961.

     As Pascal had promised, production values were extremely high and the film did become notorious as the most expensive production to that date from an English studio. The credits list four great film photographers : Freddie Young (Lawrence of Arabia), Robert Krasker (Brief Encounter), Jack Hildyard (The Bridge on the River Kwai) and Jack Cardiff (The Red Shoes). No wonder the film looks so good! Decor and costumes ( by Oliver Messel) are first rate, and the art direction by John Bryan stirs memories of The Thief of Baghdad. Georges Auric's music is frequently lovely, though at times adds to the deadening effect. Cleopatra's last entrance is an instance where, despite her funereal garb, the music could have added some wit to the scene. There does seem to be an oppressive earnestness over the entire production, which only Rains, Granger and Parker consistently rise above.

Video

     The video transfer of Caesar and Cleopatra on this disc is very close to being excellent. This film, like many "old" British films, has suffered from the poor prints we have seen on TV since the introduction of that medium. It is wonderful to see this vintage movie looking fresh and sparkling in this superior presentation. Obviously taken from a very good print, there has been some digital enhancement, but only minor artefacts were noted.

     The original 1.37:1 image is here presented at 1.33:1. From the first frame of the opening credits, the Technicolor image is rock steady, without any jitters, crisp and clean, with a spotless light background for the titles. The image detail is extremely good, with modest film-like grain. Costumes are particularly dazzling and close-ups are extremely sharp, to an unflattering extent in some of Vivien Leigh, particularly as her youth is consistently referred to. Some of the darker scenes do lose some detail. Colours are rich and vibrant, with the entire spectrum brilliantly presented. There is the occasional scene which does look a little washed out, the major area suffering being the extremely pale complexion of Vivien Leigh. These scenes are, however, rare in a two hour production.

     The digital processing has resulted in some minor artefacts, but these are barely noticeable. There was no aliasing, even on highly detailed fabrics, the only real issue being an occasional halo effect on moving actors (20:30 / 30:90). This is extremely minor. The print is completely free of film damage or dirt, except for one vertical white scratch (62:42). Reel cue marks have been removed.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     There in one audio stream on the disc, English mono Dolby Digital 2.0 encoded at 192 Kbps.

     The sixty-five year old soundtrack is in extremely good condition, and complements the outstanding image on the screen. Dialogue is beautifully recorded, with post dubbing only noticeable in a couple of scenes. There is almost no background hiss and there was not one pop or crackle noted.

     The mono sound is generally full and satisfactory, with the score sounding generally fine in the mono reproduction. The score is by Georges Auric (Roman Holiday) and is played by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Overall

     Apart from the Main Menu the disc contains only the feature film.

Main Menu

     There is a quite attractive graphic of a cinema ceiling and proscenium, with curtains flanking the wide screen. On the screen is a scene from Caesar and Cleopatra, unfortunately blown up to fill the dimensions of the screen, with top and bottom of the image cropped. The accompanying audio is the sound of an ancient projector.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     Region 1 has a release of a version with the same packaging as a local MRA release of a few years back. This release was taken from a print inferior to that of this new Beyond release.

     In Region 2, a generous box set devoted to the films of Stewart Granger is available. This is the The Stewart Granger Collection (12 discs) which includes : Adam and Evelyne, Blanche Fury, Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Boycott, Fanny by Gaslight, The Lamp Still Burns, Love Story, Madonna of the Seven Moons, The Magic Bow, Waterloo Road, Woman Hater and Caravan.

     If your major interest is in Caesar and Cleopatra this Beyond release is good value. The best image I've seen on a home video release of the title, plus two other Stewart Granger features well worth seeing - all for under $15.

     More a curiosity piece than a "classic", this is a colourful though stodgy presentation of George Bernard Shaw's play. Claude Rains does a wonderful job, but gets little assistance from the occasionally magnificent Vivien Leigh. Stewart Granger struts and smiles with virile energy. A very good print with no extras, in a package giving you three movies for less than $15.

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